A look at May 2024 Winner for the Outstanding Community Service Award
Lauren Wegner, RN, Nurse Educator, IDHI SANE Program
(summary of her nomination) Lauren’s continuous volunteer efforts are demonstrated through her role as a co-founder and secretary of the Arkansas Forensic Nurses Association, which was founded in 2021. As part of her endeavors, she advocated for and created a human trafficking and street nursing committee to navigate serving this vulnerable population where they are, which often is not within the walls of medical facilities. She also leads and publishes a quarterly statewide forensic nursing newsletter actively engaging in educating and informing nurses across the state about forensic nursing topics, news, and issues.
Lauren answers calls at all hours from nurses across the state who have questions or who are asking for her guidance. She also takes on planning our department nursing leadership retreat with a focus on fostering professional growth.
Lauren has an absolute passion for forensic nursing, graduating with her MSN in Forensic Nursing in August of 2023. While she has always gone above and beyond to make an impact in forensic nursing, she kicked into overdrive after completing her masters, and even collaborated with the FBI, Arkansas State Police as well as local law enforcement in human trafficking sting operations aiming to bring a trauma-informed, medical-forensic component to the response. Lauren has also chosen to take part in human trafficking responses around the world. In October of 2023, Lauren went to Nepal to work with other professionals to respond to human trafficking there and in India. Lauren also returned from a medical mission in Egypt in March of 2024. While there, she worked with a team of physicians and nurses to serve medical and medical-forensic needs in this area of the world.
The Outstanding Community Service Award recognizes the contributions of an individual nurse, both professionally and/or voluntarily, for continuous service activities performed based on the needs of the community. Services may be community based, outreach or on-campus activities, including department and/or unit that impact a healthcare outcome.
Nomination Requirements
- Nominee must be a licensed nurse (APN/RN/LPN).
- The project or contribution must have occurred within the past 12 months.
Nomination Process
- Complete online application below in its entirety relating to the nurse you are nominating. If you have any supportive information in the area provided in the nomination form, please attach it. NOTE: Nominations will not be accepted after the closing date.
- The nominator may request, from the nominee, evidence of the community service project to submit along with the application to validate impact regarding healthcare outcome. This could include photos, flyers, and/or newspaper entries the nominee may already have available.
Selection Process
- Nominations, that meet criteria, will be blinded and reviewed by the Awards Committee. The Awards Committee will select winners based only on the information provided in the nomination and supportive information.
- Nominees who meet the criteria, as well as the selected winner, will be celebrated during annual Professional Nursing Awards ceremony.
Click here to view past nomination example.
Come back in January of 2026.